Bodega Manuel Aragón Oloroso Tio Alejandro

Bodega Manuel Aragón is a historic bodega and family winery founded in 1795, firmly rooted in the traditional, working-class Sherry culture of Chiclana de la Frontera. Chiclana is an ancient, whitewashed village located in the Bay of Cádiz, 12 miles southeast of the city of Cádiz. Chiclana’s vineyards are the southernmost in the Marco de Jerez. Chano Aragón, the current winery head and oenologist is a direct descendant of its founder, Pedro Aragón Morales. The story of Manuel Aragón is that of a fierce defender of the historical culture of the region and its quality, handcrafted wines. 

During harvest, grapes are hand-picked in small baskets, directly pressed, and then fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in stainless steel at low temperature. After fortification to 17% ABV with neutral grape spirits, Oloroso Tio Alejandro spends 17 to 20 years aging oxidatively in barrels that are not topped up. The slow loss of water through the walls of the wooden casks facilitates the continuous process of concentration, which makes the wine gain in structure, smoothness, and complexity while bringing the final wine to 18% ABV. Manuel Aragón runs the scales in the traditional way, moving the wine through the solera manually, without mechanical pumps, utilizing gravity and the traditional tools of the canoa, jarra, sifón, and rocíador. It is cold stabilized and very lightly fined with bentonite before bottling.